New Wage Theft Laws: What you need to know

Australia’s new wage theft laws, effective 1 January 2025, introduce significant penalties for intentional underpayment of employees. This includes a maximum penalthy of 10 years’ imprisonment and/or 25,000 penalty units (currently $7.8 million).

Key points to remember:

This isn’t only a business issue. Individuals, including CEOs, payroll, and finance managers, can be held personally liable, facing imprisonment and/or penalty units if found guilty.

The “beyond reasonable doubt” standard applies. Hearings will be heard in court where it must be proven beyond reasonable doubt that the business or individual deliberately underpaid workers.

Knowledge of the underpayment is crucial in determining guilt. Businesses may still be fined if they are found to have unknowingly underpaid staff, however, criminal charges will only be laid if the underpayment was deliberate.


Verify the applicable modern award or enterprise agreement for each employee.

Review payroll practices to ensure compliance with minimum wage and overtime
provisions.

Ensure employees are classified correctly to determine entitlements.

Ensure timely and accurate payment of superannuation contributions.

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